A new goal keeper coach has been brought into Aston Villa, Tony Parks has been appointed as the new goal keeper coach at Aston Villa. He had previously worked at Tottenham and knows Sherwood well. He will be responsible for working with Brad Guzan, Shay Given and Jed Steer. It’s unknown whether or not this means the end of Andy Marhsall who was the previous goal keeper coach at Aston Villa. Following the sacking of Paul Lambert he sat as Scott Marshall’s number 2.
However, with a new manager and new goal keeper coach can Shay Given take back the number 1 shirt from Brad Guzan? Realistically, it seems very unlikely. It’s not that Shay Given is a poor keeper, I’d argue he is still one of the best keepers in the Premier League. But it’s always going to be difficult to outshine the heroics of current number one Brad Guzan. However, it could be argued that having such a good number 2 keeper at club puts pressure of Guzan to play well for Aston Villa. If that is the case, it has been working.
Thankfully, Aston Villa are still in the FA Cup meaning that Shay Given will continue to gain limited game time in an Aston Villa shirt. But the FA Cup success brings an entirely new question all together. Should Aston Villa make to the FA Cup final, would Given be benched in favour of Guzan? We have seen this happen before, Aston Villa making it to the League Cup final in 2010. Guzan was largely responsible for dragging Villa into the League Cup final. Making several vital saves and keeping out two penalties against Sunderland. Guzan did publish a terrific article about how that game affected his confidence as a keeper. So, if Villa did make the FA Cup final. Would Guzan do whatever he could to allow Given to play or, would he seek revenge?
Surely it’s too soon to call, but it’s a thought that is worth keeping at the back of our minds. Our League form has been terrible, however our Cup form so far has been terrific. Plus with a game against West Brom, anything could happen, a spot in the Semi-final is very feasible. But when it comes to Premier League football, it’s safe to say that Guzan will continue to play as number 1. Unless, obviously he makes a series of errors costing Villa a spot in the Premier League.
Put given back in guzan been shit lately a lot of goals we let in I think a better keeper would have saved especially the ones in the hull game
It was criminal how Guzan was dropped for that final and so it would be if Given was dropped if we were to reach this final.
Whichever keeper gets played in the league, I’d be confident that both are ok, although not without faults.
Which just goes to show that you need decent backup in the Prem, something we lack.
Same old story, I suppose, where if you don’t invest, you end up exactly where we are now.
Anyway, I shouldn’t think Given’s too unhappy at playing second fiddle when he’s on around £56k a week (less appearance bonuses, of course, which is probably why he doesn’t figure much).